Russia and Ukraine exchange 115 prisoners each in UAE-mediated exchange
Emirates leads seventh mediation effort in 2024, facilitating the release of 115 prisoners from each side amid ongoing conflict
UAE Mediates Prisoner Exchange Between Russia and Ukraine, 230 POWs Released
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 115 prisoners of war from each side, both countries confirmed, with the United Arab Emirates acting as an intermediary.
“The United Arab Emirates has successfully mediated a new prisoner exchange between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine, resulting in the release of 230 prisoners,” the Gulf country’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
It was the UAE’s seventh mediation effort this year between the two countries, the ministry said in a statement.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 115 Ukrainian POWs had returned from Russia, Russia confirmed that 115 of its servicemen captured in the Kursk region during the Ukrainian invasion had been released.
Both sides have carried out periodic prisoner exchanges through intermediaries since the war began nearly two years ago, despite the absence of peace talks between them since the early months of the conflict.
This was the first such exchange since Ukraine shocked Russia by crossing the border at Kursk on August 6.
One of the biggest exchanges was on January 3, when the warring countries traded a total of 478 prisoners after mediation by the UAE.
The UAE ministry said the total number of prisoners exchanged through its mediation efforts now stood at 1,788.
Zelenskyy said the exempted members of the country’s national guard, army and navy.
“We remember everyone,” he said in a post on X. “We are looking for them and making every effort to bring them all back.”
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, said 82 of the returned Ukrainians defended the southeastern port city of Mariupol in 2022, which Russia took control of.
The latest exchange was announced as Ukraine celebrated its 33rd independence day from the Soviet Union in the long-running conflict on Saturday.
Russia wanted to “destroy” Ukraine, but the war has “returned to the homeland,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on Independence Day.
Ukraine’s offensive in Kursk is one of the most significant cross-border attacks since the war in 2022.
Despite the invasion, Russia continues to make progress in eastern Ukraine.
